Aa! I live! See I haven't forgotten this ficcy, sorry for the long wait, I had a busy work week, and this past weekend I went to Mexico City, but here is the next installement, which was tricky to write, it's kinda an aftermath chapter, the mystery will continue next chappy. I wanted to have it done before I left, but I was in an angry mood, and didn't want to do something silly like kill Monk off. That would be bad, nein?

And gosh, I just really love these characters, they're so fun to write, but I don't own them, and never will. Unless I become rich. But that's a big maybe.

Chapter 4

Was he dead?

If he was, then where was…?

"Trudy." He gasped out, shivering as he raised his hand to touch her face. "Oh Trudy…You're here…" He smiled as he felt her touch returned, it was as if she had never left him. He could feel the joy sweeping inside his heart and soul, he finally felt…happy. "I've missed you."

"Adrian." She whispered, not smiling, but crying. "You're hurt."

"No, I'm not, I'm not…with you, how can I be hurt?"

"Adrian, Adrian." Trudy bit her lip and drew her lover into a fierce hug. "I'm always with you. Always." Monk shook his head and let the hug consume him, he felt tears come to his eyes as he knew this was real. This was real. He finally had Trudy in his arms again.

"You have to go back Adrian. Please, you have to go back…" It was here that Monk finally noticed that his body was on the floor near the entrance of his home, a blood stain rapidly increasing from his stomach.

"I can't. Trudy…I can't…"

"Please, Adrian, I love you, but I want to see you living…not…" She stood quiet as she watched her husband bleed to death. She had to help him, she just wished she knew how. They both looked up from their embrace to watch as Monk's old friends came up to his body.

"Damn it…" they heard the Captain hiss, and at the sound Monk put his hand to his side in pain.

"You're waking up…" Trudy whispered. "Go to him…he's so worried…"

"Damn it! Randy! Anything?"

"Nothing sir, the place it clean. The neighbor isn't home…"

"Where are those damn paramedics? Monk, Monk, can you hear me? Monk? You better not die. You better not die you son of a bitch. You're making a mess. Come on. Wake up."

"Go to them."

"I can't." Monk shook his head. "I can't leave you again."

They both watched as the Randy hung back from the scene, talking and shouting orders at everyone, the hospital, the police, everyone, while Stottlemeyer just kneeled next to Monk, trying to stop the bleeding, trying all he could, whispering, touching his fallen friend on the shoulder, the face, anything in hopes that he would wake up.

"Monk. Monk. Wake up, San Francisco still needs you."

"He's right Adrian, go to them. They still need you."

"But I need you."

"Adrian-no. No Adrian…please…" Trudy's tears continued to fall, and Monk swept her up in a kiss, a passionate kiss, which was as real as anything could be.

"Oh God no, No….Monk!"

"Captain?" Randy whispered.

"Damn it, damn it, he's got no pulse, he's not breathing…" At this moment two men in white rushed to the fallen man, and the police captain began cussing them out for taking their sweet time. That the man was de- was hurt, and- The paramedics told him, very kindly, to shut up because they had to save this man's life.

Trudy broke off the kiss, watching these people surrounding her husband, wanting so desperately for him to live, and as much as she wanted Adrian to be finally with her. She wanted him to live more.

"Adrian. You have to go back." At this Monk chuckled.

"I'm not going back." Monk leaned in for another kiss, and for the first time since he'd known Trudy, she pulled back.

"No. You are. I don't want you here."

"W-What?"

"Adrian, I love you. I want you to live your life. You still have to solve my murder, right? You still have to get reinstated. The man I know and love, would never leave anything unfinished."

"Trudy…"

Meanwhile the paramedics had begun trying to get Monk's heart started up again, Stottlemeyer watched silently, wondering if he had spoken to the great Adrian Monk for the last time.

"Trudy…"

"I'll always be here waiting for you Adrian, I'm not going anywhere."

"Trudy…"

"Adrian?"

"I love you so much." And Adrian fell into the only woman he ever loved, and ever will love. And Trudy knew, she knew, that Adrian would listen to her, because he loved her that much.

"I love you too. I'm still here. Now don't come back until I let you, ok?" Monk smiled into her shoulder.

"O..k…" Monk turned his head to face the scene in front of him.

"We've got a pulse!" The paramedics shouted, and began lifting him up into the ambulance preparing him for the hospital.

"Thank God." Stottlemeyer whispered. "He's still fighting."

"Trudy…if I'm going back now, can you tell me who shot me? Trudy?" But as he turned around, Trudy wasn't there anymore. Instead he was looking up into stranger's faces, and he began to panic, and then he felt the pain, and he felt his mind shutting down, not being able to handle the onset of these new disturbances.

"Monk! Calm down! Calm down." Monk calmed when he saw the two familiar faces, and yet he still felt himself falling, falling back as he did when he was shot. Falling.

"W-who sh-shot me?" He whispered, and passed out before the Captain had a chance to respond.

-o-O-o-

He recognized where he was right away. He was at the botanical gardens, and there…

"Trudy! I went back I did…I tried."

"Don't worry love, you're still close to death, but at least now you have the will to live."

"What are you saying? That, I can still die?"

"It was a horrible wound" At this Trudy touched her husband's cheek, and Monk smiled gratefully, as if the words calmed his soul rather than alarm him. "I'll be right here with you through the worst. You'll live. I'll make sure of that."

Another kiss.

And there was peace.

-o-O-o-

"What do you mean I can't go in? I'm his partner!" The nurse tilted her head in question, and the red-faced man angrily showed her his badge.

"Partner! I'm a cop!"

"I'm sorry, sir…but he's under intensive care…you just can't go in."

The Captain knew the rules, he knew them with Karen, but he was hoping they would somehow magically forget them. Crazy, he knew, but seeing a good friend lying there, and, he remembered, for a moment Monk was dead.

His heart wasn't beating, he wasn't breathing…he was dead. He had never stopped to think about Monk's mortality, he often feared for his friend's life, but they always managed to rescue him in the nick of time. And Adrian was a cop, he still knew how to handle a dangerous situation if his life depended on it.

So what had caused him to open the door? Monk, was Monk. Overly cautious, always checking to see who was at the door…

He was distracted.

The little voice piped up in his head. It was true. The Captain had been talking to him, about the case, and whenever Monk's mind is on the case, his head is somewhere else.

But no, Monk still never forgot his compulsions. It was part of him. The idiot, what caused him to open that damn door? Didn't he know…

Of course he didn't.

He thought it was Natalie. He got over-confident, and it may have cost him his life.

Who shot me?

Could very well be Monk's last words to him. A painful ending question, for it meant Monk didn't see the perp. It meant that it was up to him, Captain Leland Stottlemeyer to solve the case.

And as he glanced around, seeing nothing but nurses, or other families holding tightly to one another, wishing they could save their father, their mother, their sister, their brother, but the act being completely out of their hands.

But Stottlemeyer knew he could do something to help Monk.

He was going to find the son of a bitch that shot him, maybe even killed him.

And he was going to return the favor.

-o-O-o-

"Julie, clean up that mess, it's time for you to go to bed."

"Aw but Moo-omm, if I stop now, I won't be able to ever finish this picture."

"If you want to finish it you will, now clean up, you have school tomorrow."

Julie was about to say something when the phone rang, and Julie grinned as she thought, assumed, it would be Mr. Monk calling about a spider or such, and Mom always took a long time trying to call him down. So she stuck out her tongue at her mother and sat down to continue coloring, and her mom shook her head and gave her a small glare.

The phone continued to ring, and as Natalie listened the phone seemed to give off a sense of urgency with the continued ringing, her sixth sense came into play, and she knew something was wrong. The same sense of feeling she had when they had called her to tell her Mitch was…

"Hello?"

"Natalie?" It was Randy. Randy was calling her, Randy never called her…she shouldn't have picked up the phone, she knew…

"Randy? What's wrong? Is everything all right?"

"It's Monk…" No, no, no please tell her he had fallen off his step ladder, from vacuuming the ceiling and had a minor bump. Tell her something small, please just don't say…

"He was shot about a couple of hours ago."

No. No. No.

"But, he's ok right?"

"Well, he's not dead…the Captain just showed up a couple of minutes ago, and he said Monk is still under intensive care…" There was a long pause of silence as thoughts raced past Natalie. She loved Monk. Loved in the purest sense of the word, she loved him more than a brother, like a son, it was a love that had nothing to do with lust or attraction.

For him to die. For him to die, would destroy her. She had gotten through Mitch's death, something she never thought possible, but to lose another man that she so loved…

"Natalie? Listen, I know you have to take care of Julie, so I'll call if I hear anything new."

"No, I'm going to the hospital. When…" no ifs "When he wakes up, he's going to be a little panicky, I'll be there." A pause. "Do you know who shot him Randy?"

"No." and Natalie could hear the love in Randy's voice with that small word. It was bitter, it was pained, it was as if that simple word being said killed a part of the lieutenant. "But we'll find him. We'll find that bastard. I promise."

"I know you will." They had to, for what if he tried again?

What if he tried to kill Monk again?

And succeeded?

What if he already had?

-o-O-o-

Her hands were shaking, she calmed herself and looked to Julie, who was asleep on her shoulder. When Julie first heard the news, she was shocked into silence, but later insisted that she had to be here, that Monk needed all the family he could get.

"Mrs. Teeger?"

"Miss, yes, that's me…"

"Friend of an Adrian Monk?"

"Yes, yes, is he all right?"

"He made it through surgery, there was a point when we were sure he wasn't going to make it. The bullet was a hard find, didn't cause as much damage as we feared, but it caused enough. These next forty-eight hours is critical, I don't want your hopes to go up just yet."

"Yes, yes, but he's ok?"

"For the moment, yes."

"Oh thank God!" Natalie didn't even feel the tears of relief as they fell down her cheeks, but Julie did. She woke up, and looked at the smile on her mom's face, and sat up.

"Mr. Monk's ok?"

"Can we see him doctor? Please?"

The doctor looked at his watch, and nodded.

"For a couple of minutes, he's still unconscious, we're hoping he wakes up soon, we don't want him to slip into a coma."

It was enough, they had already stood up when he had said "For a couple" and were already at the door when he had said "still unconscious"

Natalie's hand flew to her mouth as she saw her boss lying across the bed. If he could only see, he would be horrified. It was then that it really hit her, her boss was hurt. Really hurt, to see the blankets under him so skewed, to see his pale face, to see his hair plastered against him with sweat, to see just how out of place he was in his hospital gown…it was truth.

The truth was that Mr. Monk was still in danger. So focused was she on Monk, that she didn't notice the other person in the room until he was by her side.

"It's hard isn't it?" Natalie gasped at the scare, and swung out her arm in reflex and the man next to her merely dodged it with a sound of surprise of his own.

"Whoa! Relax, let me introduce myself." Natalie managed to breathe, finally, when she noticed his police uniform, and she blushed at her mistake. "Joe Christie, Adrian's former partner, I volunteered to protect him until the killer is found."

"Oh, pleased to meet you, I'm sorry about the…"

"Don't worry about it, happens more than you know."

"You said you were Mr. Monk's former partner?"

"Yea, great guy…helped me get reinstated…I can't believe it. I can't believe he finally got shot…"

"Finally?"

"It was a running joke between us, we would get pelted with bullets, and Adrian would get nothing, not even a scratch, I would be the one with the graze or the wounded shoulder, Adrian, each time, would bring me chicken soup that Trudy made. It was so delicious, I sometimes let myself get hit just so I could have some of that soup."

Natalie smiled, and for a minute they forgot just exactly where they were, until the monitors began beeping, and nurses rushed in with a doctor, messing with the machines, and one picked up Monk's arm and inserted a needle into him, and Natalie flinched.

If Monk were awake…

But he wasn't.

The doctor was frowning, that wasn't a good sign, the doctor was frowning, he mouthed something to the nurses, and they nodded, and Natalie could only watch, clenching Julie's hand, wondering what the hell is going on.

"You're going to have to leave." The doctor said softly, staring at Julie as he said those words.

"Why? What happened?" Natalie exchanged glances with Joe, who looked just as worried.

"He has an infection, we're going to have to treat it. Infections can be pretty serious, I would suggest calling any family he might have…"

"Ambrose." Julie whispered and she looked up to her mom in fear.

"I'll go to Mr. Monk's house to get his number, Julie, come on." Natalie looked one last time to the uniformed figure, and he gave a small pained smile.

"Don't worry, I've got his back. He's not going to die with me around."

"He better not" Was all she said as she left the room.

-o-O-o-

"Is that me?" Monk looked away as a needle was inserted into him.

"Yes Adrian, that's you…"

"I look terrible, no wonder Natalie looks so scared." Adrian had his head on Trudy's shoulder as they sat and watched the scene before them.

"What did they say? I have an infection? Me?"

"Yes."

"Oh God, it's the blanket, I know it is." Monk lifted his head and stood next to the doctor, and looked at the skewed blanket underneath him. "Yes, it's the blanket. You see, people have to be afraid of blankets, they can kill."

"Honey, it's not the blanket…"

"I think it is."

"You ok love?"

"Fine. Look there's Joe! I didn't see him…"

"He wants to take care of you, you see Adrian? I'm not the only one who loves you."

"I think I know that, I just forget sometimes, like when Sharona left…she said it was to get back with her ex, and she just left…leaving me a letter. Her ex was a horrible person Trudy, why would she get back together with him? I think it was just an excuse, so she could leave me…"

"No, no honey, she cares for you. She always has."

"Then why did she leave me? Why doesn't she ever call?"

"Sometimes, when you love someone so much, it hurts to see them suffer. She doesn't want you to suffer." Monk went silent, as if he wasn't convinced and shifted his gaze elsewhere.

"Natalie looks scared." Monk stood up and looked at himself on the hospital bed below, and tried to straighten the blanket, but failed to do anything. He saw tears running down his assistant's face as she walked through the door, and he snuggled into his wife.

"Trudy, am I going to die?"

"No honey." And there was peck on his forehead. Monk smiled, and felt himself relax, and allowed the doctors to do whatever they wanted with him. Right now, he was in Trudy's arms, and she would take care of him.

He could worry about blankets later.

-o-O-o-

Natalie could hardly stop from crying as she nervously entered Monk's house which was surrounded by police, and they had yet to clean up the blood, it was by the front door. She still wasn't sure exactly what happened, but for Monk to be shot in his own home, was terrifying.

"Natalie!" The Captain rushed to her, and seeing the tears feared the worst, his stomach started doing flip-flops and reached out to grasp her shoulders. "Monk is he-?"

"The doctor said he has an infection, that I should-I should…"

"Yea?"

"Contact his family…I came here to-to…get his address book…" And to see. She heard herself say in her head. To see what was going on.

"Any leads?"

"We think it may be Mark Bennett, we're just waiting on an approval for an arrest."

"You really think it's him?"

"I don't know, but it's something." The Captain rubbed his forehead in pain. "It's something." Natalie looked, and she saw the love in his stance. She always knew that the Captain was always overly overprotective over Monk, it was as if they were brothers. The Captain probably saw Monk as an annoying little brother. Natalie had to give a small smile at that.

"How's Julie?"

"A bit scared, she stayed at home, she's still going to school tomorrow, I hope it just distracts her a little bit…" The Captain nodded in understanding, and he was called away, before he left he gave one big sweeping motion with his arm, allowing Natalie to get the address book.

It was small, and black. Natalie remembered teasing Monk over having a little black book, and Monk just smiled along, not really getting the joke, but amused by Natalie's own amusement.

She sat down and flipped through the pages, she felt as if she were violating a part of him. Monk was always a private man, and to see the names written down, she was left to wonder…

Why did he bother?

Mr. Monk never used it, he had an amazing memory, and could remember any number, any name, why would he write it down?

There was one name that was circled and marked out several times. With a bunch of "Do not calls" written all over it. She recognized the name, Monk had mentioned it briefly, he had visited this woman's home three times, each time thinking it was the first and a new lead on Trudy's murder.

That's why he wrote them down. To know who to call, he was still afraid he may completely lose his mind. Mr. Monk always had to have back-ups, this was his back-up…in case his mind should stop working.

Natalie shivered at having such an insight made, and she proceeded to dial the numbers on the pages below.

They were all neat and curved, Monk print, except for one name, which seemed to have a little tremble with the last "g"

Sharona Fleming.

She hesitated, wondering if to call…

And eventually she did.

To be continued…